Entry Point
by Dante Morose
Summary: Everything seems to be going well as expected. That is, until a certain goddess arrives with an unusual gift, but at what cost to Percy? Whump, but not a darkfic.
1. The Lightening Thief

Percy whumpage. So, everyone, here's how this works: I love to see my favorite characters suffer. Yeah, it sounds sadistic, but so is everyone who roasts marshmallows (perfect, sugary white fluffiness impaled then burned over an open flame), so don't judge me.

Anyway, When I was reading the Percy Jackson series for the first time, I wrote up additional parts in the book (deleted scenes, one might say) where he was plagued by a mysterious disease that rides somewhere between a panic attack and some severe physical issue. This first chapter explains it somewhat. So, enjoy!

Oh, and this one happens in _The Lightening Thief_ during the Lotus Casino scene.

* * *

><p>She watched him enter the room, invisible to his view. She knew what was coming. The goddess of future had divulger it to her…after her scratching a few backs and blackmailing a few others.<p>

Percy, so innocent now, couldn't know of the future to come. He needed to be strong, but one only gets stronger through experience, and he had yet to experience _anything _of the true pain one can feel. And no one knew pain better than her.

She flexed her fingers before crossing her arms to lean back against the far wall of the Lotus hotel room. Percy looked around. He could feel her power, no doubt.

_She _would be the one to train the upstart hero. She could inflict pain, teach him how to endure it and show him how to control his fear. She could make him stronger – never mind her personal motives; no, that was for later after the war_s _were over. All she needed now was a point of entry. Then he would never be able to escape her. Never.

Surveying the room once more, Odyne goddess of pain pushed off the wall, still invisible, and closed the space between herself and Percy. Oh, he looked deliciously anxious. Yes, he could sense her nearing. There was no doubt he was a demi-god. He would be the one. He could be strong enough, and in the end he could save her from her prison of pain. But first to strength, fortify those chances…first: the pain!

* * *

><p>How long had we been here? It couldn't have been too long…could it?<p>

I looked around me, noting almost dismally that I had wandered back into our hotel room. I was turning to go back out, but a familial aura had filled the room. Something was not right. There was something… some_one_ else in the room. One hand reached for the door-knob while the other went for riptide, but I was accosted by a sudden energy pushing me by the shoulders till I lay on my back on the floor.

The pressure on my shoulders left only long enough to knock Riptide from my hand. I threw myself upward to rid myself of the invisible force.

I regretted it.

In the years to come, I would reflect on that moment as I fell asleep each night. The moment things changed for me. I mean, I knew the gods had it out for me, but _this_?

A knife pierced my upper left arm, slicing thinly into the skin so that I did not feel the pain at first, but it did not last. As I registered a teen-barely-woman, dark hair in a messy bun, and every personification of goth you can think of, a scream burst from my throat. Places I didn't even know could hurt were _burning._

The girl pressed down on the knife, but I didn't want that thing getting any further into me. It just…_hurt_. Summoning my courage, I brought my right hand to pull the knife out. It was still invisible, but as soon as I pulled it out, I felt it disintegrated the way monsters do. The girl got up and left me lying on the floor. I got the feeling it was good I had not looked into her eyes. She high-tailed it out of the room, rushing to the window and hopping over the guardrail on the balcony.

I attempted to go after her.

That was stupid.

I only managed to flop over onto my stomach and retch as my stomach contents landed on the floor with a slight splatter. I moved over a moment and lay on my back again, panting.

Who had that been? More importantly, _why?_

My head flopped over and I gazed through teary eyes at my left arm – at the entry point. Strangely enough, though, there was no blood where it had entered me. Just a thin red scar. The knife must have been tipped with some kind of poison or something, that or I was just really, _really _tired. But in any case I quickly found it getting more and more difficult to move my left arm. The pain had dulled, but the numb sensation I felt was spreading. I was slowly becoming paralyzed.

I didn't stay long to admire my new disability. I got out of the room and down to the game room to find Annabeth and Grover as fast as I could.

I found Annabeth working on adding a lower town to her city. If I had been around to admire it, I'd say it looked like the ultimate architecture's collection city.

"Come on," I tugged on her arm. "We need to leave." _I don't feel well, _I thought to add, but I didn't think it would make much a distance. I waited a moment, but she hadn't looked away from the screen, "Annabeth, please. We _have _to go. NOW." I started to shake her but she pushed me away.

"Leave me alone!"

"_Please_, Annabeth!" The idea had lingered maliciously in the back of my mind, and I felt bad for doing it, but I had to get my friends out of this place. I could barely remember why we were there, but I just knew I needed help. I pushed my face in front of hers, closed my eyes, and kissed her quick on the lips.

That jarred her; I realized she had slapped me before I felt the sting on my cheek. "Percy!"

Taking in a deep breath, I wiped my lips with my sleeve, noticing her doing the same. "Sorry, but you were in pretty deep."

"And _that _was the only thing you could think of?!"

That didn't deserve an answer. Whatever arguments I made, Annabeth was sure to win them. Instead I said, "We have to get out of here. We need…" I stopped, my vision blurring for a moment when my stomach decided it needed to finish emptying itself.

"Percy?" She touched my shoulder lightly. I could barely feel her touch.

With my mind reeling in disgust, I swallowed hard and pushed it back down my throat. "I'm okay." I coughed with distaste. "Let's just find Grover."

We began searching, but before we had gotten far I let out a gasp of pain. I had brushed my left arm against a game machine. Now the place where the knife had stuck me was stinging viciously. The numb sensation had spread to my side, making it difficult to move. Oddly enough, my arm had gone stiffly limp at my side. I couldn't control it anymore, which meant if the numbing agent reached my legs… I wouldn't be able to walk.

Annabeth had noticed that I stopped and came over. "Percy, what's wrong?" she demanded.

I shook my head. "We have to find Grover and get out of here first."

She stared me down for a moment before giving in. She knew I was right this time. Yeah, _this _time.

Eventually we found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter. Let's just say it took a lot of wrestling against Grover and his flying shoes to get him away. His struggling was making it almost so difficult to walk that I nearly collapsed. The numbing feeling was gnawing at my legs with a faint tingling sensation.

"Percy, you really don't look good." Annabeth said.

"I'll be fine," I grunted, though I didn't know if I'd be fine or not. It was even hard to talk. And the air I sucked in was as thick as molasses.

We got out of the building, and suddenly the three of us face the world with a sharp breath of reality. Grover was out of it almost instantly, and Annabeth was already fine, but me…

I barely registered the changed between the inside of the building and the outside. I staggered behind them clutching my stomach. I almost couldn't move my right arm and it was the most painful feeling to just _try_ to walk. It was a miracle I could _think_.

The paralyzing poison had spread everywhere in me but my chest, head, and below my knees. It must have been mixed with some sort of sedative because black spots were dancing in my vision. I felt feverish and my whole body ached with the strain of holding myself up. My throat closed up till I was breathing through a straw, and I panicked.

"Guys…" I couldn't stand any longer. Crumpling to the ground, I blacked out.

* * *

><p>"Percy! Percy! Oh <em>please<em> wake up!" Annabeth's voice flooded my ears as I came to.

I tried to move, but my body wasn't responding. My heart beat echoed in my head as though in slow motion. Annabeth was shaking my shoulder, but I could barely feel her touch. Her pleas came through as though over a bad cell phone connection, and the words were slow like my heart beat.

However, as I became self aware and dragged my mind out of my groggy state, I felt my heart beating faster and faster, as if it were racing to get a lifetime of beats in that minute. Each time it pounded felt like it was trying to jump out of me. My breath was short and violent; it was getting harder and harder to keep breathing.

I will be honest with you. I was scared.

I didn't know what to do. Actually I couldn't _do_ anything. The anxiety built in my chest and only caused to make things worse on all levels. But there was this clear voice in the back of my head that kept saying _you have to fight it._

So I followed the voice and tried to fight it. Over and over again I tried to move something… anything! I kept trying even though I felt like the silent struggle would tear me in half.

For one dreadful moment I felt my whole body screaming with the most terrible, indescribable pain I ever felt and ever would feel through the rest of my life. I wished I would never feel anything as painful as that again, and I never did. If I could have screamed, the campers on Long Island would have heard me.

Then, as sudden as it started, it was gone. I gasped and began to intake long, shaky breaths. My eyes fluttered open. Hovering above me, I saw the anxious faces of Annabeth and Grover. I closed my weary eyes again.

"Percy?" Grover asked.

Slowly I began to breathe normally. I was exhausted and sweaty. I wanted to just lie there and sleep for weeks on end.

"Percy?" it was Annabeth's voice again.

I experimented. I made my fingers move and I could make a fist, but it took a lot of effort because I was so worn out.

"Percy?" Annabeth said again, her voice was full of worry. I guess I had scared them pretty badly.

I opened my eyes and saw Annabeth and Grover still looking at me. I made a strenuous attempt to sit up. Grover helped me, but touched me as if I was a glass knife. Annabeth just stared at me.

Once I was propped against the dumpster they had dragged me to, I searched for the scar the knife had given me. I found it right below my left shoulder. I ran my fingers over it and winced. The faint touch shocked pain through my body.

Though I didn't know it then, that scar would stay with me for the rest of my life, and every time I would touch it I would always feel that coursing pain. The lingering questions bounced in my mind…Who _was _that girl? And what did she want with me?

* * *

><p>So, do you want more? I have more. I suppose I'll post them as separate chapters if this is liked enough. I can label the chapters according to which book they are in. That should be helpful, right? Comment lots!<p>

-Dante


	2. Sea of Monsters

This takes place on page 200-201 of _The Sea of Monsters._

So, here's the next chapter. Like I mentioned in the first chapter, these chapters are mostly like deleted scenes. It's not a concise story – in other words, read the books and insert these where directed. I don't want to/can't rewrite the books so forgive me if, from chapter to chapter, it feels a bit disconnected. However, for the sake of readers who don't want to pull out their books and just want to read the fic, I'll try to keep a bridge/transition between each of the chapters.

That said, commence reading!

* * *

><p>It didn't feel right to leave her alone after the trauma of facing the sirens. Her hair still dripped wet from the swim, and I could see her shivering under the blanket she clutched around her shoulders.<p>

The sirens hadn't done a whole world of good for either of us. As for Annabeth, she was sitting silently, slogging through thoughts of over-analysis about her hubris issue. And me? I had two things on my mind vying for attention. The first was self evident: though I had managed to save Annabeth, I was still freaking out inside.

What if I hadn't been able to save her? If I had been a second later, or if I hadn't figured out how to help her breathe underneath the water… Maybe people would be better off if they didn't hang around me.

But then, Annabeth probably would have come on this mission anyway – to get the fleece, if not to save Grover. And if I _hadn't _been there, _she could be dead._ The thought made me shiver.

"You okay?" Annabeth turned to me.

"Yeah," I nodded.

She watched me for a moment then turned away to gaze across the endless water. Even having me here, it was probably pretty lonely for her out on the empty ocean.

I drew my legs in to cross them. Unexpectedly a sharp pain shot up my right leg.

Oh yeah, that was the second thing. That stupid curse.

The pain blinded me, flashing my vision red with the shock. Moving my legs suddenly seemed like a bad idea, but if I sat here any longer, I might hurl.

"I'll be right back." I managed to say and then ran as fast as I could below deck.

Once I got there, I collapsed on the floor. My leg was stinging with an awful pain, and the world was rocking around me in a dizzying promenade. I closed my eyes and tried to focus. _Please, not again. _To ease the pain, I tried curling up on my left side, but the fiery feeling spread rapidly to my other limbs, making it impossible to be comfortable.

Lying on the floor, my mind flashed back to the past few months. Ever since that attack in the casino last year, I have something reminiscent to an Achilles' heel. That scar on my left arm? Every time any amount of pressure (bar my sleeves, thankfully!) is applied to that spot on my arm, this wave of nausea and indiscernible pain comes over me. I didn't tell anyone at first, but after my mom accidentally bumped me and I blacked out on the kitchen floor (yeah, that taught me to keep things from my mom) I had to at least tell her. The only other people who know that spot is tender…well, let's just say it's good I don't stay in one school for longer than a year or I'd come home a lot more beat up than normal.

The problem was, I still wasn't sure why this was happening to me. If I thought it might help, I might have asked Annabeth for help, but I was supposed to be strong. I was the guy on this quest, and guys didn't come to girls and tell them about how they are weak at one touch on the arm, even if it was accidental…

And that was why I couldn't blame Annabeth for my collapsing now. She had no idea that during her struggling underwater she had hit me in a particular spot. But then, in the state she was in, it might not have made much difference. But just because it was an accident didn't mean I wasn't in pain, gasping for life.

It's almost a shame for me to admit this, but I began pleading with Hades in my mind that I would not have to die. That was how badly I felt. And then the pain abruptly left. That was it.

For a moment, I felt relief, but whatever had a hold on me wasn't finished. The shocks in my limbs were replaced by a terrible nightmare of chest-racking coughing. It felt like I had accidently breathed in a cloud of peppery sea water and it was blocking my air passage. Tears squeezed from my eyes, and I wanted to sob for it to stop. I coughed until my throat was sore, but it still didn't let lose.

My coughing let up after what seemed like an hour. At first I gasped in hoarse breaths, but soon I was able to breathe more normally. I shivered as if I was cold. _What is _wrong _with me?! _Then I heard what I felt was either the best or the worst sound in the world: Annabeth coming down to see what was going on.

"Percy?" she said, looking around for me.

She saw me on the floor.

"Percy!" she ran and knelt by me. I barely moved from where I lay askew on the hardwood floor.

Placing a hand on my shoulder, she demanded, "What happened?"

My voice was scratchy and my throat hurt when I insisted, "Nothing, I'll be fine."

"Something happened."

"It was nothing. I'll be fine," I repeated. A few excess coughs escaped me, which didn't support my statement.

"Bed. Now." She didn't wait for me to reply, but helped me up to my cot. I lay down gratefully.

She turned to go back up to the deck. "Annabeth," I scratched out.

Annabeth looked back, her expression softened now at my pitiful state. "Yes?"

"Let me know if we get close."

She nodded. "Get some sleep. You're going to need it."

I gave a nod and closed my heavy eyes. I wouldn't have long enough to sleep. We were getting close.

I could feel it.

* * *

><p>Good so far? More? Comment if you want more. I'll probably put up more anyway just cause it's fun, but it's always wonderful to have feedback.<p>

-Dante


	3. Sea of Monsters II

_Sea of Monsters_ page 275.

Okay, first of all, I would like to apologize. I have forgotten the **disclaimer** to the story. So here it is: I do not own anything here but my own imagination. Yeah, a bit late, but better late than never, right? That's alright though, I have a big **disclaimer** on my profile page so I'm probably good.

Intro for those who don't want to look it up: Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and the Golden Fleece are all safe at Camp Half-Blood. Everyone is happy, and everything is good. And then my story interrupts the smooth flow of the book to give you some added content. Any questions? Yes? No? Good.

On with the story.

* * *

><p>Grover was happy getting ready to head out on his search for Pan. My mom was…well, she knew I was alive, and I supposed that was enough till I could get back home. Chiron had taken care of the police hunt for me – again. And Tyson was…gone.<p>

Annabeth and Grover were standing behind me, I knew; but I could barely remember what I had said to them. In my peripheral vision, Annabeth stepped up beside me, offering a hand up.

"Time for dinner, Seaweed Brain."

"Actually, guys," I took a deep breath. "There's something I need to tell you." I avoided looking at either of them. I knew what I wanted to say, but suddenly it seemed harder than I thought it would be.

"What is it?" Grover saw the look on my face and sobered up instantly.

"You might want to sit down. I don't know how long this is going to take."

They exchanged concerned glances before settling on either side of me.

I didn't know if I was shaking from the loneliness of just having looked at the shield from Tyson or from the scared feeling in my stomach from not knowing how anything in my future could be certain.

"I…" I didn't know how to start. From the beginning. That's right. Start at the beginning. I took another deep breath and began, staring at the sea to help steady me. "Remember the Lotus Casino last year?"

Neither said a word, but I could tell they both nodded.

"Well, um," telling your best friends you were weak wasn't the easiest thing to do, but I think it had more to do with the fact that I didn't know _why _I was weak. "I-"

"Is this about why you collapsed after we got out?" Grover stepped in.

I nodded, grateful for him helping me along. He could probably guess as much with the link we shared now. "Yeah, before I came down to get you, Annabeth," I looked at her briefly before returning my eyes to the water, "I was up in our room. Something just felt…wrong, like there was someone in the room. But no one was there. A…girl attacked me. I didn't see her at first–"

"Invisibility?" Annabeth guessed.

"That's what I think."

"And what?" Grover interrupted. "You just stood there and took it? Or was there a fight? You thought something was wrong, why didn't you leave?"

"Well…" I opened my mouth to again stutter out the excuse that I hadn't seen her. "I was _about _to, but–"

"Let's just let Percy finish telling what happened first, Grover," Annabeth leaned around the front of me to see Grover better. "Then we can ask questions."

Though she seemed docile enough, I could tell she was struggling to hold back questions of her own.

Sighing and shaking my head, I realized I was feeling a bit better now. Maybe they had argued the details on purpose so I would have a chance to get composed before saying anything. I really did have the best friends there were to have.

"Continue, Percy," Annabeth tucked her legs underneath herself.

I scratched the back of my head and smiled faintly. "Anyway, this girl came out of nowhere and attacked me. She didn't do much. Just stabbed me."

"STABBED YOU?!" Annabeth was on her feet in an instant. "And you didn't think to tell us?!"

Grover didn't look too worried, and chuckled at Annabeth's reaction. "What was that you just said about asking questions?"

"It was just my arm, Annabeth," I tugged on her hand, urging her to settle down and sit down again. She huffed for a moment before resuming her spot on the sand. "Yeah, she got my arm with her knife. There was no blood or anything when I got the knife out, just a scar." I gestured to my left arm with my right hand. Annabeth and Grover leaned in for a look, and it was as if I could hear them thinking, _THAT'S how he got that scar. _But I just talked over their silent stares.

"I didn't get a look in her eyes, but the feeling around her…it felt like she was a goddess."

My friends gazed at me expectantly. "That's all?"

I shrugged. "Not much else to say. She bolted after I pulled the knife out, and after a bit I started feeling…off, I guess." There really were no words to describe the feeling I had when that had happened. The best I could do was compare it to something between what I imagined Annabeth and Grover felt like when they were being stretched at the water bed place, and a _really _severe panic attack. Otherwise I just hurt. All over. A lot.

Annabeth hummed a bit at that. "So if she _was _a goddess, who do you think it was?"

I shrugged again.

"What'd she look like?" Grover questioned. "That might help. And if Annabeth doesn't know, Chiron probably does."

I hadn't thought of that. Chiron probably _would _know. Sometimes Grover was a genius.

"She had black hair bunched in a bun," I struggled to recall the details. The side-glance had been so momentary that I hadn't gotten a real good look at her. "Um, a spaghetti strap black dress with a zipper down the front–"

Annabeth was glaring daggers at me now, and I blanched. No, I just – _no._

"That's about it," I finished quickly.

"Well, that's not much help," Grover sighed.

Annabeth gazed at my arm till the attention was getting a bit uncomfortable. To break her focus, I suggested, "So, I should probably ask Chiron, huh?"

Still contemplative, Annabeth only nodded.

"After dinner," Grover insisted, hauling himself to his feet. "I'm starving." There was no question about it – if his cropped nails were anything to go by.

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed.

We got up together and headed out to dinner. I hoped I had done right by telling them, and I hoped they would forgive me for not telling them sooner. Grover seemed too preoccupied with his food and tin cans to give it much thought, but Annabeth…it might be a while before she found it in her heart to dismiss my secret-keeping habits.

Later after the campfire, Annabeth – Grover had to get packing for his trip, but he made me promise I'd tell him everything later – accompanied me to the Big House where I recounted everything to Chiron, three times over. I was just tired by the end of it and was starting to regret opening my big mouth in the first place, but I needed to know what was wrong with me. How could I fix things if I didn't know what the problem really was?

Chiron had listened with solemn silence, only interrupting to confirm a detail every so often. And he had asked for a description of how I felt before collapsing. As might be imagined, that wasn't entirely pleasant for me to rehash.

His curiosity quenched, he sat in his wheelchair for a few awkward moments just looking at me. More specifically, my scar. I was seriously considering wearing long sleeved-shirts for the rest of my life after this.

"Odyne."

That was all he said, as if he was tasting the word to see if it felt right.

"What's Odyne?" Sounded stupid, I know, but hey, I fight with a sword, not a dictionary.

"Odyne, goddess of pain," he said slowly, and Annabeth gasped slightly in her seat. The discussion was just getting started, and I already knew I wasn't going to like it.

"You mean some overseer of pain stabbed me?" I asked, wishing the feeling in the pit of my stomach and the throbbing in my left arm would go away.

Chiron leaned forward. "This is not good, Percy."

"When is it ever?" I mumbled and leaned back in my seat.

"Odyne is a powerful goddess, although she is ranked among the minor ones of Olympus. Not much is known of her other than her origin and her curse. In fact, few have ever seen her. Among them, Pandora and the major Olympians."

"Pandora's box," Annabeth breathed in comprehension.

"Yes," Chiron nodded. "She originated from the _pithos_. And as for the curse…" he stared at me again. Maybe I'd wear a ski mask so no one could recognize me. Then I wouldn't be stared at anymore.

"Her curse?" I repeated. I had recently picked up calling my "battle wound" a curse, but if there was something actually labeled as her curse, maybe I better pick a different name for my problem.

Chiron closed his eyes as if playing back a memory. "She is a young goddess, a bit eccentric for a typical Olympian and she's," Chiron actually looked around the room, "a bit more like your stereotyped teenager then any of the other gods are."

"Heard that!" Dionysius called from on the porch outside.

If Chiron had reacted to that, Annabeth and I missed it while looking toward the sound of Mr. D.

Chiron cleared his throat and caught our attention again. "In short, Odyne got on the bad side of the gods when she complained about not liking her duties. I hear she used to be a pretty good goddess, and just couldn't handle hurting others – gods, goddesses, and mortals alike. She protested by refraining from administering pain to anyone as she was supposed to."

"No pain," I spoke softly. "That's a good thing right?"

Chiron looked at me hard. "Imagine a world where nothing you do hurts. You touch a hot pan, but you can't feel anything to let you know your flesh is burning. You–"

"I get it, I get it." I didn't want to hear about pain anymore. My left arm was stinging now, and all I wanted was to go to my cabin and curl up on my bed.

Chiron seemed to read my mind, and we were short on time anyway. After all, Annabeth had night watch on the hill tonight. "The Olympians took council and determined that because of her choice to refrain from her job she needed to be disciplined. Since she staunchly refused to do it of her own will, and they needed to stop the humans hurting themselves, they cursed her using an oracle's prophecy."

"What was it?" Annabeth breathed, absorbing the information with obvious interest.

Chiron chuckled at her enthusiasm. "That's not for me to say. All I know is this: if Odyne does not deal out a certain quota of pain per capita she pays the price. The oracle _did _give her a way of escaping her goddess-ship." Chiron's eyes rested on my scar again. I was getting sick of this, but his tone told me to pay attention.

"If she could find someone strong enough to endure pain, she would be allowed to transfer her abilities and become an immortal without the stress of responsibilities."

"Wait a second," Annabeth shook her head. "You're saying that if she finds someone with a good pain tolerance, she can force her job on them. Am I right?"

Chiron nodded.

"But that's not fair!" I jumped in. "For one, they wouldn't have a choice; and two, how does _she _know who can stand to be hurt?"

The room got deadly silent as I realized that was what my scar was. An entry point. An energy outlet she could use to test me, to push me. To strengthen my tolerance or make me weaker.

It didn't need to be said.

Another few seconds passed before Annabeth asked softly, "Is it only physical pain? Or can she cause heartbreak, loneliness, homesickness, and other emotions that hurt too?"

Chiron took a moment to answer. "I don't know too much about the work of Odyne, but I believe that while most of the pain she inflicts is strictly physical, she works closely to the other minor gods of these emotions sprung from Pandora's _pithos_. After all, when you feel scared, your heart physically speeds up, right? And if you are lonely, a cold feeling wells up in your stomach uncomfortably. She is master of both physical and emotional pain, but at the same time, she is not."

"What does that mean for me?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I was regretting bringing this up or not. I was just tired. Tired of feeling like the gods had it out for me personally, and tired of talking about the future.

Annabeth and Chiron gave me that now familiar stare again. Chiron answered, "It seems she has chosen you. And if you are strong enough, you may gain the power to manipulate pain."

I closed my eyes against their words, their gazes.

I didn't feel well.

Suddenly it was too stuffy in the house, and I rushed for the door. I threw it open and faced the cool night breeze with a deep inhale before running to my cabin. I stayed there curled up on my bed, cursing Odyne over and over in my mind. I wasn't even afraid of her wrath. What more could she do to hurt me then she already seemingly planned to do?

I lay curled up on my stomach for a while just thinking. There was no way I wanted to have the responsibilities of a god – even a minor one. And since Odyne had apparently chosen me, I'd have to fight hard against it. I didn't want that kind of power. I was happy with my own problems– powers, excuse me. But, if Odyne didn't get her way, what would that mean for me?

I heard a light knock on the door to the cabin, but I didn't move to see who it was. It didn't matter. Annabeth came in anyway.

"Are you alright?" she asked when she had reached the end of my bunk.

I wanted to be strong. I didn't want her to see me when I felt like breaking inside – or screaming. But knowing she knew made me not feel so alone. So I nodded.

She quirked a doubtful eyebrow at me. "If you need to talk, you know where I'll be."

"Your cabin?" I asked. "Cause I don't think the other–"

"No, Seaweed Brain," she smiled. "I'm guarding tonight, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," I rolled my eyes, trying to be light-hearted so she wouldn't worry about me. "Watching a tree. That should be exciting."

"Yeah," she grinned. "Real eventful."

But if either of us had known how well that Golden Fleece could work its magic, maybe we would not have joked about it so much.

* * *

><p>So, yeah, that was the explanation of where I'm going with this crazy idea. Well, let us all remember it's been a couple years since I read the books and wrote these ideas down. What can I say? The books didn't have enough Percy torture.<p>

Anyhow, later!

-Dante


	4. The Titan's Curse

_The Titan's Curse_ page 87-88 (the page break is where it jumps to page 103)

For those who don't know, this is the part where the Hunters basically pound Camp Half-blood at the Capture the Flag game. Thalia and Percy are at odds (and I think it was originally Percy's fault it developed into a fight because she _did _apologize after shoving him), and that's really all you need to know for this.

* * *

><p>We were facing humiliating defeat, and Thalia was blaming <em>me. <em>Well, so what if it was my fault? I did my best, didn't I? That was all I could do. Maybe I couldn't run fast enough, or work well in a team effort, or save Annabeth before she fell off that cliff–

Ouch, that last thought hurt–

But at least I tried to do things right.

I stood in the creek where Thalia had shoved me.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it." Her words reached me. Time seemed frozen. In front of me, Thalia was staring horrified at me, and I could still feel the sparks of electricity zapping off my fingers. For a moment, I was ready to forgive and just get back to my cabin where I could map out my own rescue plan for Annabeth, but the Hunters – they just had to laugh.

Their sniggers were barely muffled under their hands, though I suspected they didn't care if I heard or not. They probably _wanted _me to hear just to humiliate me further. Well, it wasn't working. I had lost the game, but not everything was my fault.

So I fought back. And unfortunately the receiving person was Thalia.

Whipping a wave over Thalia's head, I let it drop on her without warning. "Yeah, and I didn't mean that," I glared, daring her to retaliate.

Somewhere in the crowd I heard Chiron ordering us to stop, but no, if I was going to fight, I was going the whole way. Full throttle.

Soaking now and a little more irked, Thalia hefted her spear dauntingly and called me out on my challenge. "Bring it on, Seaweed Brain!"

Somewhere deep within me where I didn't think I could feel anything, a spike of hot anger surged upward and through me. _No one_ got to call me that but Annabeth. My anger took over, and I didn't say a word, preferring to let half the creek carry my message to her instead.

She sputtered water for a moment before striking me with electricity; and let me tell you something: when the warning label says not to put your toaster in the bathtub, they're really saying, "Mixing electricity and water equals a bad day."

So I coughed for a moment and tried to shake the sudden weakness in my bones, when I heard Chiron call out for us to stop.

_Don't, Chiron, _I thought. _This isn't your battle to fight; it's mine_.

Thalia struck me once more before I decided I needed to gain some ground. Distantly, as I was raising the _entire _creek into the air, I realized the Hunters had stumbled back – half in awe, half in almost-fear. That drew a smirk to my lips.

I stood there for a second, showcasing the water commanded at my will. You know how movies have their actors wave their arms when they are pretending to control water? Yeah, well, real life is cooler. I just _stood _there and I could control it.

Then Thalia moved. She began to close in, ready to strike again, and this time, maybe make actual contact with her spear. I hurled half of the water at her and the other half I willed to surround us so no one could properly see what was happening.

Thalia fell backwards, but got right back up, dripping water. We fought on: sword and water against spear and lightning. But before very long, Thalia got close, aimed her spear at my chest, missed, and hit my left arm in the worst spot imaginable: the scar Odyne the pain goddess left me.

I screamed as the lightning combined with the deathly pain leaped through my body. For a moment all I could see and hear was Odyne. It was as if she was standing right in front of me at Camp Half-blood. She was saying, "It's sooner than you think, hero. Much, much sooner."

When I opened my eyes next, I was flat on the ground, halfway in the water. Thalia was saying, "I don't understand," over and over again.

"What happened?" Chiron was trying to ask her.

The next thing I knew Grover was beside me checking my pulse. "You don't seem too bad." He said mildly. I guess the only reason he was so calm was that this wasn't the first time he had seen me flat on my back writhing in pain. I didn't know if his getting used to it made me feel better or not. So I just closed my eyes and groaned. My body shuddered.

"Here," Grover said. I opened my eyes and saw him breaking up some Ambrosia. "This should help."

He offered me a piece, and I willingly took it.

"Thanks," I said and ate it. The warmth spread though me like I had stepped into a hot tub, and suffice to say, it helped quite a bit.

Once I thought I could move without puking, I sat up and saw campers staring at me. I honestly didn't take much notice. I was too busy thinking about what Odyne had said: _It's sooner than you think._

I was about to tell Grover when I saw . . . well, some_thing _ approaching. I peered to get a closer look. No way…I had never seen her out of the attic, and here she was now. The oracle.

* * *

><p>I felt miserable after that encounter. The prophecy, getting rejected from the quest, me making my thoughts into lists… Yeah, I really needed to stop that. Every time I did it just depressed me.<p>

Chiron had left me with foreboding words. I didn't want him to look at me like I was born to die. With a sigh I flopped backwards onto my bunk. A light knock at my door was followed by Grover re-entering after Chiron's departure. Grover still seemed upset. He sat beside me.

"I'm really, really sorry, Percy." he said.

"It's ok, man," I shrugged tiredly. It only took a second before remembrance found me like an ice cube down my spine. The prophecy wasn't the only thing big that had happened.

"What is it, Percy?" Grover said, sensing that something was wrong. I stared at him. How did he–? Oh yeah, the link.

"Odyne" I started slowly. "I, she…she talked to me tonight."

"What did she say?" Grover asked quietly.

"_It's sooner than you think._"

"You don't think . . . she's coming back, do you?"

"What else would it mean?" I looked at him gloomily.

A bit of silence followed and soon he left me to my thoughts.

What else _could _it mean? She didn't mean to…? She didn't think I was…? She wasn't going to make me the new god of pain, was she?

* * *

><p>Not much to say except, sorry that it was so short. In any case, I'm trying to decide whether to end it next update or let you guys see what I did with The Heroes of Olympus series. My only problem with the later option is that the series isn't complete yet so I don't know how that side of the story would finish. Honestly, I don't think it can be finished so fast, but we'll see.<p>

-Dante


	5. The Titan's Curse II

**DECISION FOR "ENTRY POINT": I have decided to only do the **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_** ones. Once as the whole series is out, I will add the chapters I have written for **_**Heroes of Olympus**_**.**

_The_ _Titan's_ _Curse_, page 201.

This is in the infamous "dam" chapter, however, it occurs before the said scene. These following events occur right after Bianca dies and their tow truck sputters to a stop and they are forced to walk instead.

* * *

><p>We started up the path; Zoe leading with Thalia beside her, Grover after those two, and me in back. I didn't mind walking alone because I felt that Grover needed some time to think.<p>

We were maybe a quarter of a mile along when I first noticed my left arm losing its feeling. For a while I was able to shake off the feeling, but before long I realized the numbness had completely overtaken my arm. I stopped walking, but the others kept going.

This wasn't right. I never had a reaction so long as I didn't bump that spot – and might I say that I was proud in how good I was getting at avoiding it. Tentatively, I pushed up my left sleeve to reveal the red scar right below my left shoulder.

An unease gripped my stomach as the words forced themselves through my mind: _It's sooner than you think_. She just waited for the right moment to make me suffer the most – and she picked now. Did she really intend on turning me into an Olympian? That couldn't _really _be possible…could it?!

My heart pounded as I panicked. What should I do? What _could _I do? My body was already beginning to numb up. I knew that before long the pain would come, and then there really would be nothing _for_ me to do.

I looked up at my friends, their backs turned to me, their help moving farther away from me. My head began to swim as their images blurred together. I put my hands to my temples as though it could help. I tried calling out to them, but all I could hear of myself was a weak, strangled cry before giving way to a terrific, searing pain.

If this was what it meant to be burdened with the responsibilities of _any _type of god, if ever offered the opportunity of immortality in Olympus, I vowed right then that I would refuse.

Dropping to my knees I felt the poison spread through me like wild fire. The sun seemed to let all its heat focus on me, and I began to sweat so badly it dripped off my body. It was all happening so fast it made me dizzy to try comprehending.

Painfully, I raised my head. The sun's glaring heat off the sand burned my eyes, but I saw that Zoe, Thalia, and Grover were still going further – further away from me. No one noticed that I wasn't still following. Why would they? We'd been through enough already.

For what was sure to be the last time, I felt the numbness start to close around the only places it wasn't already in: my chest and my head. Tears of pain squeezed through my tightly-shut eyelids, and my throat closed up, making it hard to breathe properly. Knowing the greater pain would soon come; I doubled over and collapsed on the ground, no longer able to kneel. I heard Odyne whisper in my ear, "You didn't get rid of me, _hero_. And now we'll see what your threshold is." Instantly the deathly pain shocked through my body.

I no longer was connected with reality. I had no idea what went on around me. I could only concentrate on fighting the feeling that lava was seeping into my veins like a raging river.

I had barely survived the first rabid attack in the Lotus Casino, and I was sure I couldn't live through another. I could barely think, and I'm sure I screamed once or twice before I lost the strength to. My mind in a fog, I felt someone touching me lightly as they rolled me onto my back and checked to see if my heart was beating. They put a hand to my heart, but, as if they couldn't feel how my heart was beating against my ribs, they pressed their ear to my chest.

Through the searing pain I heard Grover's panicked voice, cracking with anxiety and despair, saying, "No, No! Not again! _Please, _no!"

His every touch seemed to burn my skin. With the strength I could muster, I put all my force into one arm to break through the paralysis holding me captive. I thrashed about for a moment, trying to keep Grover from touching me, but he held me down, making it all the worse. My energies exhausted, I resigned myself to bear the force he used to hold me still.

I heard my own breath, harsh and uneven from an invisible pressure making it difficult to breathe. A cobra had wrapped around my lungs and the more I struggled to draw in air, the tighter my lungs constricted. I could actually hear myself groaning with every noise from the outside. Then I heard Grover again.

"Thalia, I need nectar! _Now!_"

Her every step in the sand seemed to me like the tremble of an earthquake, and as her shadow fell over me my body involuntarily shuddered. What was Odyne _doing_? Oh yeah, something about my "threshold". I shuddered in realization. _Pain _threshold. It was a test – like a final exam to see if I could do it.

Even with her tormenting me, I felt myself relax somewhat and the panic subsided. I wasn't being turned into a god. I could live in mortality another day.

_If _I survived.

Grover held my head while Zoe force fed me the nectar, but the golden liquid burned in my chest when I swallowed it. It curbed the edge of the pain for a bit, but I couldn't keep it down. It made my chest burn worse as I coughed some of it up, but even then, Grover pushed Zoe to give me more.

My mind swept my consciousness away from the outside world to focus on staying the pain. Though I felt calmer than before, I was still scared; but in my head I heard Grover's voice encouraging me. That gave me a bit more hope.

It wasn't long, however, before he completely broke. "Percy, no! You can't die on me. You just can't."

* * *

><p>My eyes flickered open to the hot desert sun. I could barely see, and I definitely couldn't move.<p>

"Percy?" Thalia said. I saw her leaning in close over me, her shadow offering me a little shade.

The sun still hurt my eyes, and I began to shut them.

"Don't, Percy," Grover choked on tears. "Please, stay with us, Percy."

I closed my eyes, exhausted. I tried to open them again for Grover, but instead I was rewarded with a deepened sense of sleep.

I don't know how long I was out, but I was grateful for every second of that black, dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>I woke to the taste of nectar in my mouth. The flavor was vague, like my senses had turned off. While I should have, I kept my eyes closed. My exhaustion was so great I wanted to stay laying right there until I died. It probably wouldn't take long – perhaps a day at the most. Odyne had broken some serious pain-boundary laws. Did that make me a worthy candidate, that I had endured it? Or had I floundered so terribly in the horror of the experience that I was exempt from further torment? At the moment, I didn't know which was better. I wanted to be strong, but I <em>really <em>didn't want to take over her…"job". In hindsight, there was really no question.

My heart was still pumping loudly, but it wasn't nearly so rapid. My breathing wasn't normal either, it was still loud and slightly uneven, but it began getting back down to normal. I managed to open my eyes, but whatever I expected to see didn't prepare me for what I saw.

My head was resting in Grover's lap, and I saw his tear stained face looking down into mine. I also saw Thalia and Zoe on either side of me. The expressions on their faces were ones of shock and anxiety.

"Percy?" Thalia said in a rather strange voice.

I closed my eyes. I wasn't able to do much else. My whole body was plagued with fatigue.

"Stay with us, Percy. Stay with us," Thalia pleaded. Thinking she was afraid of my losing consciousness again, I opened my eyes again. Or maybe she was afraid of me doing more than just blacking out. Maybe she was afraid I was going to give out on them and die. Memories of Bianca's tragic death were too fresh in everyone's mind.

Grover spoke to me with a quivering voice, repeating his earlier words, "Do you think anyone _else_ would be my best friend?"

I had to get up. I had to do it for Grover. But then I groaned inwardly at the thought of moving. I might have rather insulted Zeus and been turned to a pile of ash.

"Can thee move anything?" Zoe said.

I looked at her despairingly. She understood: I didn't know and if I did, I was too exhausted to try. I couldn't even talk.

Closing my eyes, I tried to force my brain to work. Without warning I began coughing severely. That remained my least favorite part of any experience with Odyne: the spontaneous, throaty coughing afterward. My chest burned with soreness, and I realized it was probably the nectar they had given me that burned so much. I groaned.

"We . . . we need…to go," I said, forcing every word out, giving all my energy into saying that one sentence. I felt pathetic. I _was _pathetic.

"No, you have to rest," Thalia said in a gentle voice. It was strange to hear her speak with that tone. By that time I was pretty sure she thought I was going to die.

I shook my head to say no. "Annabeth needs us." I knew if I allowed myself to rest, I would slow everyone down from completing the quest on time. But if I moved too much in my condition, I really might die of exhaustion. "Help me up," I said.

They protested plenty and forced me to lie on the ground for some time longer, but I continued to insist. We had to get moving. Zoe gave me some more nectar, but she didn't want to risk giving me too much. Apparently they had force fed me near the mortal limit of nectar just to keep me breathing. Did Odyne really know what she was doing? Maybe not, considering she was a young goddess who really didn't want to force pain on others – except those who could maybe help her.

Leaning heavily on Grover, I tried to stand. However, I was overwhelmed with nausea the instant I tried moving. It took several agonizing minutes before I was actually on my feet. Grover helped me the whole time. When we finally started going again, he helped me with every step, holding on to me tight enough to keep me from falling but not tight enough to hurt me. People probably wonder what their friends would be like if they knew you were going to die – not like I would, but for a while I thought I was. Well, for better or worse, at least I knew I had the support of my friends in a crisis situation.

It seemed almost funny how they had all changed in reaction to the situation. Well, maybe not funny, but I never thought I'd see Thalia and Zoe so…_human_. So _gentle_. There was no doubt that it wouldn't stay that way, and I was kind of glad since it just seemed _weird _to see them that way, but for the moment, I wasn't complaining.

On the way I stumbled a lot and was anxious for our walk to be over. My breathing picked up its pace and so did my heart's beating. As I got close to blacking out, I fought it away. I _wanted_ to black out. I was so tired. But I couldn't let that happen. No, I had to keep going for Grover.

So as I neared the brink of unconsciousness, as much as I didn't want to, I allowed Grover to literally drag me along. My head hung limply on my chest and my feet dragged lifeless behind me. My arm over Grover's shoulders and his arm around my waist was all that carried me forward. He clutched me tightly as he dragged me along, not daring to look down. He didn't want to know if I was dead or merely unconscious. I was so close to both that he was dragging me most of the time.

Grover was emotionally unstable. He – we – had lost Annabeth, and Bianca had died. He had been upset since New Mexico and the presence of Pan. And now he had almost lost _me_. He still could. Grover was having a terrible time trying to stay together. Despite his condition, he kept me from falling. I think he was afraid that if I collapsed on the ground again that I might never get back up. He was probably right.

After a half mile of walking, I heard the river's rushing rivers and I a peace pervaded my being. Thalia took notice of a closed canoe rental, but we just left an IOU note and took out two canoes.

"We have to go upstream," Zoe looked up the rapids, her gaze doing the talking.

"I'll take care of it," I stepped forward, my voice still shaky.

Thalia gave me a look that said: and how do you propose to do that?

But I felt better. Just having the water close at hand helped me stand steadier. I admit I was still very weak, but I thought I could handle anything to do with water.

In any case, while the Grover and Zoe set about putting the watercraft into the river, Thalia and I went to fetch the oars.

"Thanks for…you, know. Earlier,"

"Sure." I placed a hand on the wall of the little structure. Okay, so maybe I _wasn't _totally better.

"And when… umm," Thalia said a little cautiously.

"Yeah?" I avoided looking directly at her. I knew what she was going to ask about.

"Grover, when you were, uhh, lying back there, h-he said you were attacked like that before, but he didn't say what it was very clearly."

I froze for a moment recalling earlier when Thalia had accidentally caused an outburst of pain during our fight before the oracle had her stroll. Then I answered.

"Odyne, the goddess of pain has an… interest in me. She cursed me on my first quest in the Lotus Casino," I unknowingly put my hand over the scar, "and gave me a lifelong memory." I didn't feel the need to explain any more than that. If she really wanted to know, she could ask, but I couldn't help but feel a bit guarded about the whole thing.

Thalia nodded as she turned my words over in her mind. "I never asked you because the oracle drove it from my mind at the moment, but what _did_ happen when I hit you?"

I shuddered. "You just happened to hit the spot where my 'lifelong memory' was, and the pain I got from that didn't mix well with electricity."

She stood looking a bit horrified for a minute. Finally she said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

I shrugged. "It's alright. Like you said, you didn't know. Besides, I wasn't being the nicest to you either."

She gave a short laugh. "I guess we're even."

"Yeah."

From below, Grover called for us to get into the canoes. I stepped forward and stumbled. Thalia tried to catch me by the shoulders, but I fell too fast.

"You okay?" She knelt down beside me and looked at me. I swayed dizzily on hands and knees as the ground tipped in my vision as I attempted to get up.

"Percy?" She put a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine," I gasped, blinking away the black spots dancing in my vision. "I'll be alright."

"If you need to rest we won't hold it against you."

"I'm fine," I repeated.

She gave me a skeptical look, but I pushed myself to my feet without her help and continued walking forward steadier than before.

* * *

><p>Not much to say except sorry for not updating on time. Heh, but I <em>did <em>update! Well, not much to say here. Hope you enjoyed, don't eat jelly beans right before bed (Hehe!), get lotsa sleep, and reviews make me happy.

-Dante


	6. Battle of the Labyrinth

So I opened my _Battle of the Labyrinth _book, and it smells of dust and Cheetos…Yeah, not a clue. In any case, it was weird. And stunk. I'm just gunna stop now.

_Battle of the Labyrinth_, Pg. 231

Synopsis of before events: Percy has floated back from Calypso's island and Annabeth blew up at him before _and _after he gave an exegesis on what happened to him. This is starting right after Annabeth has stormed out (she's "territorial" about her "friends"), Chiron tells Percy about Chris Rodriguez (Clarisse's love interest), and Mrs. O'Leary (the hellhound) is in the arena. There is obviously more going on, but this is all that is relevant to my plot.

Now, read on…

* * *

><p>I got up to leave. Might as well visit Mrs. O'Leary. She was probably lonely with Quintus gone now. Before turning to go, I realized Chiron's eyes. Had they always looked this old? This weary? How many times did he sit there just waiting to hear that this time, one of the heroes he had trained hadn't manage to come back alive, or at all? It was just…sad.<p>

At the doorway I froze. Grabbing at the doorframe for support, I closed my eyes. The room had started to spin.

Chiron must've seen because he immediately asked, "Are you alright, Percy?"

I barely heard him. My heart had raced to a million miles an hour and a rush of pain had spread through my body. It wasn't too bad but it was enough to cause momentary terror to ripple through me. Goosebumps rose on my arms.

For an instant I had thought Odyne was back again and my life would be over, but I realized that I had carelessly bumped my left arm against the door frame on my way out.

I was on the edge since my last encounter with the rambunctious goddess. Whenever I got careless and bumped into things, such as now I felt a rush of hot pain overtake me momentarily, but other than that – nothing.

And that's what scared me.

After a few months I realized it would put me more at ease if something terrible _did _happen. The tension mounted the longer she ignored me, and rather than being able to think she had left me alone for good, all I thought about was what she might be planning during the time she remained silent.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

Chiron called out again, his voice smothered with worry. "Percy, is something wrong?"

The consideration of asking him about it crossed my mind, but instead I shook my head and answered, "No," and left.

* * *

><p>I stopped at the sword arena before dinner. After the day's events, my appetite was gone anyway. After a slobbery greeting from Mrs. O'Leary and a not so nice greeting from Clarisse I figured I might as well stop thinking of myself and think about someone else for a change.<p>

"Sorry about Chris. Chiron told me what happened."

Currently tearing up dummy after dummy with Mrs. O'Leary's following her path of destruction to chew on the remains, Clarisse paused a moment. Only a moment.

"Things happen. Sometimes there's nothing we can do about it," She skewered a dummy. Suddenly I was grateful I was out of stabbing reach. But I had opened the lid to this topic, I might as well finish.

"He'll get better. I mean, he's got something to fight for."

Clarisse stared at me for an eternity before getting my meaning. I saw the light catch her eyes when she did. Her demeanor went from ferociously angry to sad and hardened. Clarisse turned away, not sure if I was teasing or serious. Finally she nodded at the ground. "Yeah."

I tipped my head away from her and let my body follow. Since I wasn't feeling hungry, I might as well practice a bit. Except for the sounds of dummies tearing and Mrs. O'Leary slobbering over the scene, an almost serene quiet hung over the place.

Though I don't want to place blame, I felt just fine until Mrs. O'Leary jumped me from behind. The welcoming leap before had been fine, but I landed awkwardly this time. That scar of mine was causing more trouble than ever. I pushed the friendly hellhound aside. She bounded off while I rose to my feet.

No, no, _no_! The room slid underneath me almost as soon as I stood. I collapsed on my knees, doubled over. One hand gripped my chest as if to ease the pain; the other rested on the floor, supporting me. I didn't know what happened to make me feel this way. I felt like . . . Odyne was there. I mean like she was standing in the room just watching me. Not doing anything but watching.

Clarisse moved forward when I didn't get up again, her brows slightly creased, "Percy?"

I cringed in pain for a moment. Earlier I had wished something would happen. And now here I was regretting it. I wished I could die then and there if only to escape Clarisse's scrutinizing glare.

"Percy?" Clarisse demanded. She clearly thought I was faking it.

I groaned. I wasn't going to let Clarisse see me like this. So with a bit of difficulty I rose to my feet. I glared at the image of Odyne as I staggered, pitching foreword with dizziness. Odyne vanished. I resented her for messing up my life in this way. Would she please just make up her mind already?!

Clarisse shook her head in disbelief, and began to leave when I dropped to my knees again. With every step planted firm on the ground, she marched toward me.

"You get hurt on your way back from 'paradise'?" she asked.

I only gritted my teeth and held my left arm close to my body. The pain was already receding, but now I had Clarisse to deal with. Before I could say or do anything, she moved to my left side and just about yanked my arm from its socket. Squeezing my upper arm tightly she roughly asked, "That hurt?"

"Yes," I grunted, trying to push her away. I must have blinked because I missed the spark in her eyes at my statement.

Her grip choked the blood flow to my arm and the numbness made me feel worse. "Good," she began to drag me out.

"Wh-where are we going?" I asked bewildered. For a moment she didn't say anything, just continued to haul me along behind her past all the other campers gathering at the pavilion for dinner – _oh, please, Annabeth, don't see me!_ This was getting embarrassing. I tried again, more insistently, "_Where are we_–"

"To the infirmary," she snapped, her voice tighter than usual. Stunned, my feet stopped underneath me, but she kept going, and I tripped over my feet trying to keep up.

"To the…" I repeated dazedly. Clarisse had gone mad. Number one: she was _never _nice to me – especially in considering my well-being. And two: I was _not _hurt. Well, I was feeling a bit faint now with her vice-grip on my arm, but really, there was nothing they could do for me there. Looking into her face, all I could discern from her stone expression was the single-minded determination that seemed to be driving her forward.

"Why?" I dared ask. We were almost there.

"Shut up, Jackson," she tightened her grip – now I couldn't feel my arm at all. "You're not thinking straight."

We entered the infirmary seconds later. Clarisse dumped me off at the reception area and muttered a, "get what you need; take your time" before ditching me in favor of visiting sick patients.

No.

_Chris_.

Understanding flooded me as I watched her head for where Chris slept and sit down next to the bed. Chiron had ordered her back on her regular schedule because she spent too much time here with him. My…moment of weakness had given her the perfect reason to visit the infirmary.

So she still didn't care for my well-being at all.

Strangely, I felt relieved at that thought.

Someone tapped my shoulder and I just asked for Tylenol to ease an insufferable headache that had developed on the way over. Looking back toward Clarisse and Chris, I felt like I was intruding on a private moment. So without a word, I left.

* * *

><p>Sorry for being a day late on the update. I didn't actually get the idea with Clarisse and Chris (with Percy dragged along in the middle) till I contemplated how to extend the stub I had for this part. Honestly, I like seeing Clarisse softer. She was never a favorite character, and I wanted to show Percy's problem <em>helping <em>someone for a change.

Later, y'all!

-Dante


	7. The Last Olympian

So, I didn't update yesterday like I'd planned. Instead I got hijacked from my computer to go see _How to Train Your Dragon 2 _(cute movie by the way). But you guys'll forgive me, right?

Lunamaow: In response to your comment, I did and didn't make up Odyne. Odyne _is _the official minor goddess for pain, but no matter where I looked, I could find no more information on her than that. So other than her name, I made up her story. Thanks for asking!

And for everyone else who read and/or reviewed: you're so awesome!

Fun fact before we get serious: did you know that Thalia (not the book character) was the muse of comedy? _Now _compare her to Thalia Grace.

_The Last Olympian _page 213

All you need to know is Annabeth has been injured, Percy already has already been to the river Styx, and when my scene starts, a dream about Rachel is just ending. So yes, he's still asleep.

* * *

><p>Rachel faded to white in my mind, but I didn't wake up. Everywhere I looked, it was white. It wasn't bright, but it was solid all around me, unbroken by only a tiny black dot moving toward me.<p>

Was I still dreaming? Did I die in my sleep? No, if I had died then I would be in the underworld, and I doubted I would be given such a "welcome" by Hades.

The dot continued to move forward, and I debated on whether it that was good or bad. In an act of indecisiveness, I stayed put until it was close enough for me to distinguish it as a person. No, a _goddess_.

_Her._

Odyne walked right up to me and stood still in the white while I ogled over her image. It was the first time I had really seen her for more than a second, and while I had seen immortals in civvies before, never had I seen one look so…normal. So human.

Her hair was like I remembered it from the first time: black strands piled in a bun on her head. But her dress was replaced with a jeans jacket over punk style clothes. With the heavy makeup punctuating her facial features, I couldn't discern what her "natural" looks were. All together, she and Thalia could probably start a goth gang together, except Odyne looked a little too innocent for that. Maybe just a club. Wait, what was I saying? _Innocent?_ The woman in front of me was far from innocent, but the look in her eyes–

Her_ eyes_.

She was a goddess – a minor one, granted – but I could look straight on into her eyes. They were the most human thing of all. The black pupils were round islands in a grey thunderstorm. But they were slightly red and puffy like she had been crying. What would make a goddess cry?

As though telling me, she blinked and all at once I could see Manhattan reflected in her eyes. The whole of it slowly crumbled as the battle we just fought replayed in her grey irises. The war made her sad because she had to cause pain when someone was hurt.

And then I knew why I could see into her eyes. She was the personification of pain. She was a good person trapped for eternity creating hell for others. And she hated it. But because of the emotional distress it caused her, she could look out at the world with the same eyes. In a way, she was no different than us.

But she was not innocent. Whether or not she wanted to do these things, she did them. Annabeth was in pain from saving me earlier, and Odyne caused that pain. Not only Annabeth, though. Hundreds of half-bloods on both sides were hurting because of her.

My memory flashed back to when Chiron had explained everything to me concerning Odyne. _No pain_, I had asked, _That's a good thing right? _Chiron had said no, and even now I didn't want to believe that hurting somehow helped us, but if we didn't feel a blade penetrating our skin, how would we know we need medical attention? If we didn't know pain, how would we learn anything at all?

I must have stared at her for nearly ten minutes before I realized how awkward it must've been for her to stand under my unblinking scrutiny. I stepped back to give her some space. Scratching the back of my neck a bit sheepishly I muttered an apology.

"It's alright," she spoke softly but her voice seemed to echo in the white surrounding us.

"Sooo, uh…what now?" I honestly didn't know what she was here for. A year ago I thought she was going to hand off everything to me, but she hadn't. She could be here for that now, but the thought didn't feel right. No, there was something else.

"You choose."

I looked at her. "Huh?"

"I want _you _to choose."

"Choose…?"

She blinked and those grey eyes deepened to a smoky black. "I want you to choose your destiny."

I blinked.

"No matter what you decide here," she warned, "what happens, happens. It won't change the prophecy or anything that is to come. But who you are and what you can do to either help or hurt others is up to you."

Wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn't respond.

She continued. "I can forfeit all my powers to you, and, if it helps to know, you won't lose the ones you possess already. You can become immortal, Percy."

"But it's my choice."

She nodded solemnly. I could practically _feel _her words begging me to not turn her down although she spoke in a flat voice.

"You were all but forcing me to this," I pointed out a bit sharply. After all, none of the memories I had of her were pleasant.

That remark brought a shameful look to her face and she averted her gaze from mine. It was then I noticed something else lurking in her glassy eyes. She was tired. Her youthful appearance almost hid it, but she was weary_._

I felt ashamed for speaking like that. "Sorry."

"No." She shook her head. "Don't. You are right. I was weak and selfish, and I tried to rush you into things. But it ended as more of a test than anything. I mean, you're the first I've tried to hand off my powers to."

"Lucky me."

She smiled wryly in my direction. "I was too nervous before. I didn't know if it would work."

"So… would it?"

Her smile turned sad again. "Yes. And that is why you have the choice. Because it would work, and… I couldn't bear to force it on you. You…" she looked aside and lowered her voice. "You reminded me of myself."

"Because you were forced too."

"Yes."

I lowered my eyes to stare at the white beneath us. It didn't seem like we were standing on anything, but something held us up. The quiet slowly morphed from contemplative to awkward. I shuffled my feet a second before asking slowly, "What is it like?"

She looked at me, looking for all the world like a confused teenager. "Being immortal?"

"Well, that too, but I meant," I cleared my throat, wondering if it was okay for me to be asking personal questions, "you have to either dole out pain where it's supposed to be or take it on yourself. Right?"

Odyne nodded in confirmation.

"So, what is that like?"

"It is…" She frowned, struggling for the right words. At that moment it was hard not to feel bad for her. She really did look and act every bit human. "When I…Whether I follow through or not, it hurts. When I do my duty, it hurts me emotionally. If I don't I–" She stopped, looking over me abruptly. "Do you remember the feeling of the Styx river, Percy?"

I nodded. How did she know? Right, she was the goddess of pain. It was her fault I felt anything in the first place. How would I ever forget? But I wasn't mad anymore. I just pitied her.

"It's like that. I feel the pain, and the only thing allowing me to grasp the surface is knowing that one day I might be free from this curse." Her eyes bored holes through me. "So, are you going to save me? Or yourself?"

Yes or no.

I didn't even need to think about the answer, but I wanted to help her too. Odyne wasn't the personification of pain. She was the embodiment of tragedy.

The words stuck in my throat. I felt cold all over. By saying no I condemned her, but as she said, I would be saving myself from the same torment. I thought of Annabeth then. If she got hurt, could I force myself to do the same things Odyne did? No, I couldn't.

Firmly I whispered, "No. I can't." The air around us thickened like we were being buried, and I could tell she had expected that answer. "I'm sorry."

Odyne didn't say a word. Not a muscle twitched, but she turned to go. I didn't want her to disappear into the light. I felt awful, but I didn't regret my decision. I couldn't let her leave all sad like that though.

"What will you do then? I mean, since I'm not taking your place."

She paused. "Find someone else."

"I'd hate to be them," I muttered bitterly. After all, I knew what it was like, at least to some extent. She smiled sadly and started to leave again. Her eyes stopped me cold.

"Wait," I said. Horror filled me, but I asked anyway. "You have someone in mind already, don't you?" With tight effort, she nodded. I didn't know if it was the goodness of my heart or the stupidity of my mind that blurted, "Can you tell me who?"

She tipped her head in suspicion so I clarified, "Maybe I can help them understand. Maybe…maybe if they are the right one to help you, I can– I dunno, maybe I can help them somehow."

She stared at me so hard I buried my hands in my pockets, looking away. "If you don't want to, that's fine. I just thought–"

"L. V."

"Huh?"

"Initials."

I frowned. "There are billions of people in the world. Could you at least give me a clue, or a first name?"

"He has the heart of a lion, and indeed, that is the meaning of his first name."

"What, like Leo or something?"

She turned and walked away. My vision blurred white. "Hey, wait!"

"They are trying to wake you. You can have my assurance that I will not harm you any longer," she called back. "But I will not remove the scar."

I glanced at my left arm where the thin red line ran vertical on my bicep.

"That is your reminder of me and the choices you have made. Should you ever change your mind, remember I'm still around."

I would not change my mind. Ever. I knew that for sure.

"Odyne!" I shouted after her. I feared what she would do. Desperate people do desperate things, and she looked about ready to fall apart or go berserk. I feared she would not be as liberal with this L. V. as she had been to me. As the white faded to black and Thalia's voice flooded my ears, I wondered who the unlucky victim would be and if Odyne would ever be freed. What would happen to her if she was? More importantly, what would become of the one who replaced her?

As I woke, two things lingered on my mind. How would Odyne take out her frustrations on my friends during the war, and what would I say to this L. V. if I ever found him?

* * *

><p>And that's the last chapter. Thanks ya'll for joining me on this little adventure. Hope you caught on to the initials. It's kinda obvious if you've read the <em>Heroes of Olympus<em> series. I didn't expect my collection of scenes would be this popular so you guys have all made me so happy and more confident.

Guess I better sign out.

-Dante


End file.
